Today is International Women’s Day, a day to remember both the huge cost we all pay when women and girls are excluded and exploited and to celebrate the progress that is being made to build a world where girls and women have parity with boys and men in access to education, power, and pay.

The work of Beyond Borders to end violence against women and girls and promote gender equality in Haiti has benefited enormously from the global movement that is represented by this day. And what we are learning in Haiti in this work also feeds back into the global movement.

As an example of this beautiful exchange, the core of our work is rooted in methods developed and perfected in Uganda. We adapted those methods and then added programming that focuses on the special reality of girls. Now people in Tanzania, a nation that neighbors Uganda, are seeking to replicate our special programming for girls.

Australia, Honduras, Mongolia, the United States, Myanmar, and Belize are all countries where we’ve shared knowledge, tools and strategies for success from our work in Haiti.

Every nation and every person has a role to play in the movement for gender equality. So today ask yourself what you can do to help advance the rights and equality of women and girls in our world.

Happy International Women’s Day!

David Diggs
Director, Beyond Borders